Some have developed and perpetuate this narrative that Kill/Claeys were running a loose ship academically and socially, and PJ had to come in and repair all of that. That's just false. Kill and Co. always emphasized academics first, and were very concerned with developing these kids into good men, to the point of accepting them all as family and bringing them into his home. Many players stated that Kill and his wife were like father and mother figures that would do anything for them any any time. It's actually very similar to what PJ emphasizes, they just didn't use such strong rhetoric and didn't make them wear collared shirts and dictate which seat they sat in the classroom. Numerous players would gush over what Kill and his wife did for them as people, not football players, and claimed to owe them a debt that could never possibly be repaid.
If I remember right, Kill took the team to a level academically (and in the field as well, by the way) that hasn't been there for decades, if ever. He laid the groundwork for the kids to buy into PJs philosophy (upperclassman were already used to being upheld to stringent academic standards).
I just can't wrap my head around constant comments like these. Why does everything PJ does have to be proof of the ineptitude of the previous staff (which is laughable considering where they brought this program, and are solely responsible for the facilities Fleck is taking full advantage of)? They can both be staffs that helped kids out, even if the processes werent identical. It's not a mutually exclusive situation.
Taking a few kids that made a stupid drunken decision, and trying to skew Kill and Co as enablers of violence, truency, etc is pretty ridiculous. Let's hope some kid(s) don't go rouge on Fleck and do something stupid (he's already suspended multiple players for drug use....why isn't that a reflection of poor culture?). If they do, I sure hope we hold his feet to fire as well, and not be blinded by the smooth talk.
Don't kid yourself, Fleck's approach is a conscious decision to obtain an advantage over other programs, just as much as any other coach. It's PR/marketing. He's not running an after school program for underpriveledged kids. I think of it in the same way as a corporation that says "10% of our profits go to cause X." The end to those means isn't necessarily because they're that passionate about that cause....they know it sells, builds brand recognition/loyalty. He's even stooped to dragging his kids through the media to help his cause, for which we love to berate politicians and other public figureheads. But, when he does, he's an amazing, selfless family man.
He's a great guy and coach. But let's not turn this into a Jim Jones kool-aid scenario and buy everything he says in the media hook-line-and sinker. A little skepticism is always healthy.
